Ball and cue rack.



W. F. CLEGG.

BALL AND CUE RACK.

APPLlcATloN FILED MAYzs. 1914.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

THE: NORRIS PETERS Co.. FHDTO-LITHO.. wAsPlrlNG TUN. D. C

WILLIAM FRANCIS CLEGG, OF GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA.

BALL AND CUE RACK.

Application filed May 25, 1914.

T all who/m, t may concern.'

Be it known that l, YWILLIAM F. CLEGG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greensboro, in the county of Guilford and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Ball and Cue Rack, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a rack for holding balls and cues.

rllhe object of the present invention is to improve the construction of cue racks and to provide a simple, practical, and comparatively inexpensive rack designed particularly for holding pool cues and balls, and adapted to permit the cues to be easily inserted in it and readily withdrawn from it, and equipped with a ball receiving channel or groove arranged so as to permit the balls to be conveniently placed therein and reremoved therefrom.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rack of this character equipped with a top rack board or rail having vertical openings to receive the upper portions of the cues and provided with an entrance adapted to permit an intermediate portion of a cue to be passed through it in placing the cue in the rack and removing it therefrom, so that there will be no liability of accidentally knocking off the cue tip or otherwise injuring the same.

With these and other objects in view the `invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope of claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing z-Figure 1 is a front elevation of a cue and ball rack constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the rack, the cues being in section. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawing.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention, 1 designates a combined cue Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr.. 13, 1915.

serial no. sfidare.

andy ball rack comprising a horizontal base portion 2, a top rack board or rail 3, and vertical end bars or pieces 4, which connect the top rack board or rail 3 with the base portion 2, forming a rectangular frame. A mirror 5 is preferably arranged within the frame formed'by top, bottom, and ends of the rack, and a suitable back 6 is employed when the rack is equipped with the mirror 5. The mirror 5, however', may be omitted and the rack may be made either plain or ornamental.

rIhe top rack board or rail is provided at intervals with vertical cue receiving openings 7, and the base portion 2 is provided in its upper face with corresponding recesses 8 forming seats for the butts of cues 9, which are supported in the usual manner in a vertical position. In order to enable the cues to be arranged in the upper openings 7 without passing the tips of the cues upwardly through the said openings, the rack board or rail 3 is provided at the front with inclined diagonally arranged entrance slots 10 eX- tending upwardly from a point slightly beyond the cue receiving opening at one side thereof to the top of the same at the opposite side of the said openings 7. The inclined entrance slots l0, which are preferably arranged in parallelism, as shown, form upper and lower projecting cue confining portions 11 and 12, which are adapted to engage and retain the cues in the openings 7 when the said cues are in a vertical position. In placing a cue in the rack, the cue is arranged in an inclined position corresponding with the inclination of the entrance opening 10, and the upper portion of the cue, at a point spaced from the tip 13, is passed through the entrance slot and the cue is then brought to a vertical position and dropped into one of the seats S of the base portion. The seats 8 will retain the cues in a vertical position, and the projecting portions 11 and 12 will confine the cues in the upper opening while in a vertical position, and prevent the said cues from accidentally dropping out of the rack. By this construction the cues may be easily introduced into and removed from the rack without knocking o' the cue tips or injuring the same.

The bottom portion 2 of the cue rack is provided with a longitudinal groove or channel 14 divided into a plurality of compartments by vertical partitions 15, and adapted to receive balls 17. The compartments of the ball receiving groove or channel are open at the top and the balls may be readily placed in and removed from them.

V The base portion 2, Which may be constructed lin any suitable manner, has the outer Wall Vof the groove formed by a separate strip 18 provided With a tongue and groove joint. lVhile the rack is particularly adapted for holding pool balls and cues, it, of course, may be employed as a cue rack Jfor billiards and other games played With cues and balls, and the ball receiving groove or channel may be omitted When not desired. Also, the bottom portion of the cue rack is provided With a small opening 19, located at the bottomA of the ball receiving groove, and adapted to permit the escape of dust. Any number of openings 19L may, of course, be einployed.

What is claimed is A cue rack comprising a rigid frame including a iXed base having seats to receive the butts of cues, and a relatively fixed hori- Zontal top rail or member provided with vertical openings presenting smooth Walls to the upper portions of the cues and provided at the Jfront With inclined entrance slots extending diagonally across the openings from top to bottom and forming spaced projecting portions at the openings to confine the cues therein When the cues are in a vertical position, said entrance slots permitting an intermediate portion of the cues, when the later are in an inclined position, to pass through them, whereby the cues may be placed in and removed from the rack without their tips coming in contact with the same.

ln testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, l have hereto aiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WiLLmM FRANCIS CLEGG.

1Witnesses S. C. McIN'rosH, J. F. KNIGHT.

4Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, D. C'. 

